this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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I think their point was fair, Rome had slavery unrelated to color, as did many other places.
They did not have chattel slavery.
Why does that distinction matter?
It matters a lot. Chattel slavery is what Europe brought to Africa. It's a particularly violent and cruel form of slavery. The "Africans also had slaves" argument is a fallacious one as the systems of slavery were very different. We could say the same thing for "wage slavery" today to demonize that or to lessen the hatred of chattel slavery. The intent of the message was to dismiss the harm, which should not be done.
Ah of course, European exceptionalism.
Classical slavery was practiced for a time in Europe as well, and chattel slavery was not exclusive to European diaspora; It was also practiced by Imperial Japan on Koreans and Chinese, for instance.
It's still exploiting them. I don't think it was intended to dismiss the harm at all.